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Box Score
Duluth, Minn. – After leading by nine at halftime as much as 14 in the second half, the Minnesota Morris women's basketball team held off a St. Scholastica rally for their 76-72 win this evening (Feb. 18).
The Cougars (18-6, 13-0 UMAC) have now won 14 straight, as well as 26 consecutive UMAC games, and sit just one win away from a perfect conference record. They were paced by four starters in double-figures on the night, while six players scored seven points or more.
The Saints (9-15, 6-7 UMAC) were ultimately done-in by a poor shooting first half, and 18 turnovers that led to 20 Cougar points. The loss drops them out of the conference tournament.
The Cougar actually shot 50% (13-of-26) from the field in the second half, compared to 44% (15-of-34) for the surging Saints, but it was the Saints 34 attempts to the Cougars 26 that allowed CSS to close the gap.
Emily Mehr (Aitkin, Minn.), Steph Roggenbuck (Osakis, Minn.) and Tara Thielke (Hancock, Minn.) all scored 14 points to lead the way, with Jenni Noordmans (Hancock, Minn.) adding 13. Thelke and Roggenbuck had 11 and 10, respectively, to lead the charge in the first half, while Mehr and Noordmans carried the load in the second with 11 and nine respectively.
After going up early, the Cougars found themselves down by as much as seven in the first, after a Saint basket made it 15-8 at the 12:14 mark. Morris answered with a 10-to-2 run and took a one-point lead after a fast break lay-up from Noordmans made it 18-17 with 9:24 left to play.
The lead changed hands on the next two possessions, but a Kelsey Erickson (Mora, Minn.) steal led to an Alyssa Silva (Maple Grove, Minn.) basket at 8:23 to put the Cougars up 21-19, and they would not trail again.
Coming out of the break, a steal from Roggenbuck led to a Noordmans three that gave the Cougars a 41-29 lead just 25 seconds in. The Saints answered with an 11-to-2 run and trailed just two at 43-31 at the 13:11 mark, but the Cougars answered with five straight to go back up seven after a Mehr three made it 48-41 with 12:26 to play.
A lay-up from Mehr four minutes later stretched the lead to its widest of the game at 66-52.
Holding a seven point lead as the clock went under the two minute mark, the Cougars waited out some tense final moments for the win. A pair of missed free throws on one possession led to a turnover on the next, and with 35 seconds left the Saints had gotten within five at 74-69.
However Brandi Cresap (Perham, Minn.) nailed the clinching free throws the next time down the floor to put the Cougars back up seven at 76-69. The Saints hit a three in the last 10 seconds to bring the final score within four, but it was too little, too late.
The Cougars will close out the regular season tomorrow night, where their current tear through the UMAC began, in Ashland, Wis. Morris' last loss in UMAC play was in the 2009-10 opener at Northland. A win over the LumberJills tomorrow would mean a perfect 14-0 conference season for the Cougars.
Heading into the season's final game, the women's UMAC tournament is set. No. 1 Morris will host No. 4 Martin Luther at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 23, while No. 2 seed Northwestern will host No.3 Northland.
